Increase the Shareability of your Brand: Just Say Yes to YouTube

If you’re a B2C marketer who has not yet implemented a YouTube strategy, you’re likely missing the opportunity to connect with thousands (if not millions) of potential customers. Consider these statistics:

More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month

Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube—that’s almost an hour for every person on Earth

According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network

Mobile makes up almost 40% of YouTube’s global watch time

The increasing popularity of video consumption (especially on YouTube) is why we invited Tim Staples and Nick Reed, co-founders of Shareability, to share their hands-on experience on “do’s and don’ts” on what makes for a Viral video at our upcoming LA Chapter Dinner on February 17. Shareability is the first full service brand agency to focus exclusively on YouTube. One of the hottest companies in the YouTube family, Shareability has generated over 500 Million organic views in the past year, and has produced and/or marketed 80 videos with 1 million + views, propelling 20 videos to the front page of YouTube.

Here are a couple examples of how to leverage YouTube in your marketing strategy to increase reach and sentiment with your important audience:

FRESHPET

Challenge: Freshpet was a small, independent fresh food pet food company who didn’t have the marketing resources to go head-to-head with the big-name pet food brands.

Proposed Solution: Create a cost-effective, pet-centric and shareable video campaign aimed at the people who purchase Freshpet the most: women aged 35 to 55.

Result: The first video delivered over 3 million views – including being aired on ABC’s GMA – and led to a 400% increase in web traffic. The second video, “Freshpet Holiday Feast” (see below), scored over 25 million views on Facebook and YouTube with the help of hashtag #FreshpetFeast and drove a 1500% increase in web traffic and record sales.

COLON CANCER ALLIANCE

Challenge: According to the Colon Cancer Alliance, Colon Cancer is one of the least supported cancers among the public. Over the years, they have tried to drum up support via various marketing campaigns – including using celebrities who lost loved ones – to no avail. The lack of public awareness is particularly frustrating given the fact that it is one of the few cancers that if spotted early enough, can be cured.

Proposed Solution: Produce a funny video to demonstrate that a colonoscopy is not a difficult ordeal – especially considering that a check-up can literally save someone’s life.

Result: The video generated over 1 million views in the first week with off the charts engagement and social conversations about Colon Cancer. CCA was beyond happy.

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 – Sony Pictures

Challenge: With long-term massive marketing behind the new Spiderman franchise, interest started to wane. How could Shareability help reinvigorate a well-know brand with a fresh perspective?

Proposed Solution: Take a fresh tack: How would Spiderman get around the city if his web stopped working? Parkour, of course. Shareability hired one of YouTube’s biggest parkour experts to dress as Spiderman and parkour his way around the city. Its not Peter Parker its Peter Parkour!

Result: The video generated 4 million views in a week, which in turn generated 2 million Spiderman trailer news hits and over 250 individual media stories.